The Choice
by beefandrice
Summary: There are times in life when one must make hard choices, and then there are times in life when one must make impossible choices. This is the latter. Selena faces the hardest choice she will ever have to make, one that might not even have a right answr. Perhaps all she can do is confide in Corrin and then hope for the best. Selena x Corrin


**Warning: slight spoilers for Fire Emblem Conquest**

* * *

"Thank you, fellow Nohrians, for joining me in celebration today."

Xander stood before the crowd of all the Nohrian citizens, all of them listening intensely to the speech being delivered by their crowned prince.

"The war is finally over, and we have formed a new alliance with Hoshido. Though once enemies, our kingdoms will now strive for peace together. Since the war began, and long before, both Nohr and Hoshido were in agony. Freedoms were oppressed, possessions were plundered, the land was ravaged. Rebellions and uprisings tore our great kingdom apart. Our world was in pain," Xander too a deep breath, the memories of war still fresh and painful in his mind. He looked back and saw his siblings standing by him, helping him recover his resolve and continue.

"I never wish to see that happen again… Not to anyone. I won't allow it. And though King Garon may have passed, his legacy unfortunately remains with us. I do not wish to tarnish his name nor the good that he once did for this kingdom; but at the same time I will not ignore the harm he brought to Nohr, Hoshido, and all the other haildoms in between. As such, all tribes and other peoples of Nohr shall be granted autonomy," there was a gasp of confusion from the crowd, but the prince raised his hand and silenced it quickly, "We will not seek to expand our borders by infringing upon Hoshidan land. Instead, we shall strive to build a foundation of trust. Both kingdoms will do all we can to plant a seed of mutual respect. In the years to come, I look forward to watching that seed grow. We have a long road ahead of us. It will not be easy, but it is worth treading; and I swear I shall do everything in my power to make it so"

Corrin stepped forward and stood next to his brother with Gunther behind him. The knight carried with him a velvet pillow with a small black crown resting over it; the crown of the Nohrian king, which had been worn by the late king Garon until yesterday. The silver haired lord took the crown and gently placed it over his brother's head.

"Looks good," Corrin whispered. Xander only gave him a small smile in acknowledgement.

"On this day, as I assume my father's throne, I vow to steady our course. The night sky is dark, but that is what allows the stars to shine so brilliantly. As king, I hope to be the light that guides Nohr out of this long night. There is a long road ahead of us, one fraught with many obstacles and challenges; but we must not let that dissuade us from the righteous path. As you king, I pledge my service to all of you, the real heart and soul of our homeland. I swear I will not rest until our beloved home awakens to a brighter tomorrow. For the great people of Nohr… Here's to a future of peace and prosperity!"

"All hail King Xander, 42th king of the Kingdom of Nohr!" Gunther took a knee and bowed down, followed by the rest of the crowd and the other members of the royal family.

There was only one person who wasn't bowing down. A young red haired hero standing next to a pillar in the adjacent hallway, having only arrived when the ceremony was already ending.

 _Geez, I should have been there with them_ , she blew some hair from her eye in annoyance, _I am part of the family now. Of all the times for me to get lightheaded and sick, why did it have to be today?_

 _Oh well, it's not all bad,_ she smiled tucking some stands behind her ear, _and I can't wait to tell Corrin the good news. He'll be overjoyed, and it's just the sort of thing he needs now._

Despite the war having finally ended, it was obvious that it had had a terrible impact on everyone, especially her husband. In just a few months he had invaded his homeland, seen many of it's countrymen slain (some by his own hand), was forced the strike down the man he once called his father, and witness the death of two of his blood brothers as well as the disappearance of one of his closest friends. Despite putting up a brave front in public, his family knew that he was suffering greatly on the inside. He was placed with an overwhelming sense of guilt that at times manifested itself in nightmares that had him waking up in the middle of the night in a cold sweat. It was only thanks to his family, and especially thanks to Selena, that he was able to keep moving forward.

 _"Selena...thank you...I don't know what I'd do without you..."_ She remembered what he had said to her the night before in their chambers after a particularly bad nightmare had him waking up in tears until she held him and did her best to soothe him back to sleep.

"Idiot...like I'd ever leave you," she muttered herself.

 _ **Selena.**_

"What the..." She spun around, but there was no one near her.

 _ **It's me Odin.**_

"How are you—"

 _ **Magic, don't worry about it. We need to talk, now. Meet us in the barracks.**_

"Wow, rude," Selena scoffed once her friend's voice was gone. She looked back once last time at Corrin, who was currently talking to the newly appointed Queen of Hoshido, Hinoka. Even from where she was standing she could tell how much the queen's presence was affecting him; he could barely look her in the eye and seemed to let her do most of the talking. For a moment Selena considered going out there with him and—

 _ **NOW SELENA.**_

"All right, all right, gawds!" Selena threw her hands in the air exasperated and made her way towards the barracks. Leave it to Odin to frustrate her when she was finally in a good mood.

 _Calm down Selena, just calm down,_ she thought to herself taking a deep breath, _today is suppose to be a happy day. The war is over, Corrin won't have to go through anything like that again, and we will finally be able to settle down and put this all behind us. From now on, it's finally going to be okay and we can finally start building the life we always talked about._

By the time she had reached the door of the barracks her temper had mostly settled down, though she was still going give the dark mage and earful about his tone.

Opening the door she walked in and noticed that Odin and Laslow were already there, "all right what was so important that you had to be so—" she stopped when she noticed that there was a third person in the room with them. Although person was probably not the right word to describe the figure: it was tall, wearing a dark cloak that concealed most of its face with only strands of its long blue hair draping of its shoulders, and it seemed to be fading in and out of existence.

"You!"

"Good, you're all here," the figure said as the door closed behind Selena, "I do not have much time, so we must make it quick."

"But we thought...you were..."

"Destroyed? Yes. Unfortunately Anakos proved itself to be more powerful than I expected. What you are seeing right now is just an after image; an echoe of what little magic of mine still lingers in this plane of existence. There isn't much, and once it's gone I will be too."

"Oh...I'm so sorry," the red haired hero said sincerely.

The fire waved her off, "do not worry, I was able to fulfill my purpose. I set out to find capable warriors that would protect my son, and I succeeded. Thanks to you the war is over, and my son is safe. I have nothing but gratitude towards the three of you."

"So does that mean Anakos has been destroyed?" Laslow asked.

"Yes and no. He concentrated most of his power in King Garon, using him as both a link to this realm and a gate way for his power to spread into this plane of existence. However, since King Garon had already past, it took more and more of his power to keep up the charade and make it seem like he was still alive. Before he knew it, Anakos had stored too much power within King Garon, power that he couldn't recover unless the vessel were to return to him and give it willingly. So when the children of Nohr struck the king down, all of that power scattered and was lost to Anakos. He made one last attempt to hold on to this world by taking over the corrupted soul of the hoshidian prince Takumi, but he too was slain in battle. Anakos has lost too much power with the both of them and is in no condition to make another link to his world. In his weakened state, he is trapped within his old realm with no way of escaping."

"But couldn't he just bide his time and accumulate power once more?" Odin asked.

"In theory yes. But thanks to some developed circumstances that occurred during your final battle, we now have a way to seal him for good in his weakened state so that he never rises again."

"Wait, does this have anything to with the disappearance of Lady Azura?" Laslow asked.

The figure didn't answer, causing the room to be filled with heavy silence. Selena and Odin knew that Laslow had developed feelings for the mysterious dancer, and that he had planned to ask for her hand in marriage after the battle was over.

"What did you do to her?" Laslow growled, his hand clenching tightly to his side.

"I didn't do anything. During the final battle she made a choice that ensured your victory over the possessed prince: at the same time, it ensured that we would now have a way to permanently seal Anakos where he can never reach anyone again. It was not an easy choice, but with it she has ensured the safety of the entire world."

"What. Happened. To. Her?"

"...it's best that you don't think about it."

"You dastard!" Laslow grabbed the hilt of his sword, only for Odin to step in and stop him.

"Laslow don't."

"Move," the hero growled.

"Inigo..."

Upon hearing that name the man stiffened.

"I know you miss Azura, and I know you must be in a lot of pain right now; but this won't bring her back. He says that he didn't do anything to her, and I believe him. He has been nothing but honest with us so far, why would he lie to us now?"

Laslow didn't let go of his sword, continuing to glare at the figure before him.

"Inigo, let go of your sword. Think about what you're doing. This isn't you, you're better than this."

"Why? Why did it have to be her?" He asked quietly.

"I'm afraid I can not tell you that child; but believe me that I wished it hadn't happened either. I had hoped that she didn't know about her legacy so that she wouldn't be burdened by it. I see now that was no more than fool's hope," the hooded figure responded solemnly, "Perhaps you are, in some way, correct and this is my fault. I believed that simply having her escape from Anako{s control would be enough to keep her safe; but I see now that she was a strong and brave sould, one who didn't hesitate in doing what she thought was right for the good of everyone; even if it mean sacrificing everything. Had I known the circumstances I would have done my best to help her just like I tried to help my son."

After a moment of silence Laslow slumped his shoulders and let go of his sword. Selena walked up and placed her arms around him, "I'm sorry Inigo..."

"It's fine...really...just another one that got away. There's plenty of lovely ladies still out there waiting," the man laughed weakly, not convincing anyone—especially not himself.

"I do have some good news," the figure continued, "with the war now over and Anakos defeated your mission here is complete. My son is safe from the ancient dragon and the world is no longer in danger. You may now return to your own time."

"Really?!" All three of them looked up at the figure.

The figure nodded, "the three of you gave fulfilled your part of the agreement, so it is only natural that I do my part as well. Like I said, I don't have much time left in this realm, but I have enough power to send the three of you back to your own realm."

"Pardon my intrusion oh ancient one," Odin cut in, "but I must make sure. When you say that you will send us back to our realm you mean—"

"The realm that I found you in all those years ago. The one that you went to in order to save your world from the fell dragon. The one where your friends and family are still alive."

Odin let out a sigh of relief, "you are far too kind."

"However, I should war you that I will not be able to send you to the exact moment that you left that realm. At most I can send you about...two years from that point in time."

"Fair enough. We knew that was a possibility," Selena nodded "the fact that you are able to send us so close is more than enough."

"My mother is going to kill me when I get back home," Odin chuckled.

"You think you've got it bad? I don't even want to know what my parents will say to me," Laslow shook his head.

"Oh will you two man up? You're grown men and yet here you are quaking in your boots because of what your mommies will say to you," Selena scowled.

"Easy for you to say. You're mother is the most mellow parent we know and you're pretty much daddy's little princess," Odin smirked.

"H-hey!"

"Could you please continue this conversation later? Time is of the essence here," the figure cut in.

"Sorry," they both said in unison.

"Now then, I believe you are remember the rules?" The three of them nodded, "good. It saves us time. I shall now give each of you the coordinates back to your real."

The figure first went up to Odin, who simply nodded and extended his hand, "thank you, oh ancient one. That you would trust us with such a monumental task, despite knowing almost nothing about us it couldn't have been easy for you. I can only hope that we were able to meet your expectations."

"You did better than I had expected. My son owes his life to you, as does everyone in this realm even if they are not aware of it. You have earned the right to go back home," the figure grasped Odin's hand, causing it to emit a faint blue glow for a few seconds before pulling back.

Next he walked up to Laslow, who seemed to have managed to compose himself. The hero looked at him deadpanned, clasping his hand firmly with the figure's.

"Believe me child, if there was any other way—"

"Just send me back already," he cut him off coldly.

"...very well," the figure's hand let out another blue glow before letting go off the man's hand.

"Thank you."

The figure finally walked up to Selena, who had been waiting patiently.

"Hey, I know I didn't say this last time but...thanks."

The figure cocked his head to the side, "oh?"

"I was is a bad place when you found us and I was looking for something that would help me get through it. Granted protecting the world from an evil dragon a second time wasn't exactly what I had in mind but still. I know you picked us randomly to help you, but you really helped me as well. So yeah, thanks."

"I'm afraid I can't take credit for that. I was only looking out for my son; everything else was your own doing."

"Right; but still, thanks," Selena smiled extending her hand.

The figure took her hand, only for its breathe suddenly fall short.

"Uuum hello? Anytime you want to do that weird blue glowy thing I'm ready," Selena said slightly annoyed.

"What have you done?"

"What? What are you—Hey!" The figure abruptly let go of her hand and took a step back.

"You can't go."

"What?!"

"As you are right now you can not leave this realm."

"Now wait just a minute!" Laslow stepped in with Odin next to Selena, "you can't just start spouting something like that and—"

"Look if this is about Lord Corrin you never said anything about—"

"You know the rules," the figure spoke to Selena ignoring the other two, "you know how dangerous it is to go through the dragon gate. There are rules and limitations for a reason, and you are currently breaking the most important one: only one living being can go through the gate at a time. If you try to leave as you are right now, you will not make it through; and you know exactly why."

Selena suddenly felt he blood turn to ice once realization hit her, "no..."

"You have three days. That's how long the magic I gave to these two will hold out. Once you are ready to leave just have them transfer the magic to you. During that time they can easily transfer it to others as many times as they want. However once those three days are up the magic will be gone, and if you are still here then you will not be able to return to your own world. You have until then to make your decision."

"Decision?! What are you talking about?" Odin yelled dropping his usual theatrics, "Of course she want to go back! How is that even a question?! Selena tell him!"

The hero didn't say anything, almost as if she hadn't heard him.

"Three days; you have until then to make your choice," the figure began to vanish.

"Stop right there! Where do you think you're going?!" Laslow pulled out his sword while Odin began pooling magic.

"Forgive me, but my time is near," the figure said quietly, flickering in and out of existence, "the last of my energy went into giving you the coordinates to return home. I can only remain in this realm if I were to syphon it from you again, and I believe you do not want that. This will be the last you ever see of me."

"Damnit you can't just leave like this! Give her the coordinates!" Laslow ordered.

"Three days...you have...until then...farewell..."

With those final words the figure vanished in thin air without a trace.

Laslow gritted his teeth, "that dastard. We risk our lives doing his dirty work and he thinks he can just walk out on us like that?"

Odin patted Selena, who hadn't moved or said anything, "look forget about what he said. You already explained the situation to Corrin right? We'll just tell him that the time has come, give him the coordinates, and then explain that he needs to go separately from us. He might be skeptical at first but once we explain the rules of the Dragon Gate—"

"I'm pregnant."

"….what?"

"A healer told me this morning; I'm three weeks in," Selena said in a monotone voice without looking at either one of them.

Suddenly the figure´s cryptic words made more than enough sense to Odin and Laslow.

 _Only one being can go through the gate at a time._

"Selena?" Laslow quickly took her hand, "Selene listen to me."

"Oh gods...oh gods," the girl began to hyperventilate, falling to her knees as she wrapped her arms around herself.

"Selena listen to me! Just breathe...it's going to be fine...just breathe," Laslow said trying to get his friend to calm down with no success.

"What am I going to do...I haven't even told Corrin yet...and now this?" She whispered, her mind reeling as she struggled to breathe, "oh gods...I think I'm going to be sick..."

"Selena don't worry we'll...we'll..." Laslow struggled to come up with something to console his friend.

"It's going to be fine Selena!" Odin cut in quickly, "we have three days, we can figure something out! We can ask a healer to prepare some tansy tea—"

Laslow whipped his head up and signaled Odin to shut up, but it was too late.

"What...did...you...say?" Selena started shaking.

Realizing what he had done Odin took a step back, raising his hands in front of him, "S-Selena I didn't—"

Selena pulled herself away from Laslow and jumped to her feet, her face beyond angry as she glared at the dark mage.

"TANSY TEA?!"

"I d-didn't...I just—"

"HOW DARE YOU EVEN SUGGEST SOMETHING LIKE THAT?!"

"I'm sorry! I just thought...I mean I didn't know you already decided you wanted to keep it—"

*SMACK*

Suddenly Odin was on the ground with a large red handprint on his cheek.

"Say "it" again I swear to whatever god exists in this world that I will clobber you back to our realm!" Selena seethed.

Odin swallowed and nodded nervously, too scared to say anything.

"This is not an "it"! This is not just a thing that I can just throw away and forget about it the next day you insensitive clod!"

"B-but the gate—"

"YOU THINK I DON'T KNOW THAT!?"

"All right enough!" Laslow stepped in and grabbed Selena's arm, "regardless of what he said Odin does not deserve that kind of abuse; not from you or anyone else. He is only trying to help you, even if he didn't do it in the most tactful manner. I know that this must be hard on you Selena, but getting worked up and angry is not going to solve anything! So just take a deep breathe and cal—"

"You don't get to tell me to calm down!" Selena snapped pulling away from the man and looking up at him. He expected her to be fuming, yet when he looked at her he saw that her eyes were beginning to water up.

"Selena?"

"Don't try to make this okay; this is not okay, and no matter what I do it's not going to be okay. I can't think of anything that he could have told me that would be worse than this. This is the worst decision that I'm going to have to make in my entire life. You have no idea how I'm feeling right now, and you probably never will; you're not the one who is suddenly facing the prospect of not being able to go back home. So don't tell me that I have to calm down, and don't tell me that it's just going to be okay in the end. You can handle it like that if you want, but I get to handle this however the hell I want," Selena said angrily as tears fell from her cheeks.

"I...I didn't—"

Agrily wiping her eyes Selena pushed him out of the way and left the room, soon finding herself out in the hallway just walking aimlessly away from the barracks. Feeling her breathe falling short again she leaned on the wall and tried her best to breathe slowly and deeply, with little success. Her heart was going a mile a minute and her thoughts weren't far behind.

 _"So what are your parents like?"_

 _"Huh? Where's this coming from?"_

 _"I don't know, I guess I'm just curious. I barely remember my parents, my real ones at least, and I don't think King Garon sees me as his son. I guess I've just wondered what it would be like to have "normal" parents."_

 _"I mean, I don't have that many memories either of them growing up do to, you know, the whole end of the world thing? But I did meet them again when I went back in time to save the world, so guess I could tell you that."_

 _"Mother is...well there's no other way of putting it, perfect. She's beautiful, smart, skilled, eloquent, kind, I could go on all day. More importantly, she is incredibly patient, especially when it comes to dealing with me. I can't even count all the times I would talk back to her with snark or sarcasm and she would just try to calm me down. Ugh, I can't believe I was such a brat to her: really I was just jealous of her, that and tired of people constantly comparing us and me always coming up short. I think the only real flaw she has is that she can be a bit of a hopeless romantic. She spends most of her time reading romance novels and at times she seems to have these high expectations for romance in a relationship. She tries to hide it, but she's terrible at lying. There were times where it exhausted daddy trying to constantly meet her expectations even when she said he didn't have to."_

 _"Daddy on the other hand...he's one of those guys that has more muscles than brains. He's either charging head first into battle swinging his axe, or he's constant challenging his commander or literally anyone and anything within a mile radius to a test of strength. I once saw him try to wrestle a wyvern into submission; it did not end well. But he's actually really sweet and caring once you get to know him. He's always the first to try and lighten the mood, usually with a pint of mead and a song. He´s not great with money, though that's mostly by spending it on other people. I miiiight haave taken advantage of that a few times in the past, and that's probably the reason I have such a bad shopping habit. Oh, and he's super protective and jealous so heads up, he might try to come at you with an ax when you meet him; don't try to reason with him, just run as fast as you can to the nearest tavern and then offer him a drink."_

 _"They sound...lively?"_

 _"You'll be fine. It may take some time but I'm sure they'll love you. Trust me, they're easily the best parents anyone could ask for."_

 _"You really do miss them don't you?"_

Selena could feel her eyes beginning to sting as she started running blindly.

 _"Hey Corrin? Dumb question but...do you think I'd be a good mother?"_

 _"Well I wouldn't call it dumb as much as random. Where did that come from?"_

 _"I don't know. It's just that Camilla and Niles announcement that she was pregnant got me thinking."_

 _"Yeah that was pretty surprising."_

 _"Not as much as the fact that Camilla actually agreed to marry that creep but whatever."_

 _"Hey what did we say about calling Niles a creep? He's family now."_

 _"Fine, fine."_

 _"Anyway you were saying?"_

 _"It's just...Camilla is so warm and nurturing. She can make anyone feel loved and wanted, even if they aren't really her family; and her hugs are just…they're really something else. You feel so safe and loved that you never want her to let go of you. It all just comes naturally to her. It's obvious that she is going to make a great mother, doting over her kid and making it feel like the child in the world; and that just got me thinking whether or not I would be one too. I don't know if I have it in me like she does. I can be mean and snarky more often than not, even to you at times. What kid wants that in a parent?"_

 _"Come on, you're selling yourself short."_

 _"I don't know..."_

 _"Well...do you like kids?"_

 _"Duh, they're adorable."_

 _"Then I think you'd make a great mother. Besides I've seen you hanging around with kids in the local towns during our campaign, and you seemed to be able to handle yourself just fine with the; and they in seemed to love your company. I'm not saying that we should have a kid right now, but when we do I know that you're going to love and nature them just as much as Camilla will her own. Perhaps even more so; because it will be our child."_

"Why...why, why, WHY!?" Selena sobbed as she kept running. Just as she turned a corner she ran into someone head first, almost knocking them down. She was about to keep going when she felt the person wrap their arms around her.

"GET OFF ME!" She screamed.

"Selena it's me!"

She looked up and saw Corrin holding her with concern etched in his face.

"Selena are...are you crying? What happened?"

The young red head didn't answer, her eyes still watering and her nose sniffing.

"Selena talk to—"

The young prince was cut off when she buried her face in his chest, clinging on to him tightly as she started sobbing again. Realizing that something was amiss Corrin held on to his wife gently, stroking her hair as she continued crying into his chest for as long as she needed to.

* * *

"So that's that situation..."

"...gods," Corrin sighed putting his arm around her and pulling her close.

They were currently lying in their bed in Corrin's chambers. The young prince had carried his wife there when she wouldn't stop crying and after telling his siblings and retainers that they needed some time alone—despite the insistence of Jakob and Camila that they could help— he returned to her and laid down next to her, comforting her quietly. After what seemed like an eternity Selena finally managed to calm down enough to explain the situation to Corrin. The man listened patiently and quietly, though his face drained of all color as Selena continued explaining their current predicament.

"What am I going to do?" Selena hiccuped wiping her nose with her sleeve, "I've never had to make a decision like this before. No matter what I chose I's going to lose something important. Corrin...what should I do?"

Silence.

"Corrin?" She looked up at her husband.

"I...I'm sorry, but I can't tell you what to do in this case."

"Corrin please, I need you now. More than ever. I-I can't do this own my own, I don't know which is the right choice. You know me better than anyone else, even more than Laslow and Odin sometimes."

"So if I told you to drink the tansy tea right now, would you do it?" Corrin asked softly.

Selena opened her mouth, but found herself unable to say anything. After a few more futile attempts she sighed in defeat and rested her on his shoulder.

"Exactly. This is something that you're going to have to decide for yourself Selena. This may affect the both of us, but it affects you more than it affects me. It's your body and your life that is going to be feeling the effects of whatever choice you make; and I'd have to be a real monster to force you to do something you may not want just because I think it's the best decision."

"So you're basically telling me that I'm on my own?" Selena asked angrily.

"No, no, of course not. I would never suggest that," Corrin wrapped his arms around her and kissed the top of her head, "the choice is yours to make, but I promise I'll stand by your side regardless of what you decide on. I already told you before that I would gladly follow you back to your own world when the time came for you to return; my promise has not changed. So whether you decide to go or stay, I promise I'll be by your side through it all."

"Corrin it's not that easy and you know it. If this was just about us leaving Nohr then this wouldn't be a problem. We already talked about this, between ourselves and with the rest of your family. We had a plan, we were ready to face the consequences of us leaving; and, as horrible as I feel for saying this, it was a lot easier for me because you were the one who had more to lose. But this? I...I didn't expect this happen...neither one of us did," Selena said pressing her face harder on his shoulder.

"I know, I know," Corrin stroked her hair soothingly.

Silence.

"Are you sure we can't just wait until after you have the baby?"

The girl shook her head, "no, it would be too dangerous. The magic that pinpoints the coordinates to the exact realm where we need to go will disappear in three days. After that going through the Dragon's gate would be suicide. Without magical interference he gate is basically like a river with an uncontrollable current; if you jump in it will drag you to wherever it goes and you won't be able to stop it. You could end up in any one of the infinite number of possible realms without a choice in the matter; and sometimes the gates to those realms are located in the worst possible places imaginable. You could suddenly be transported several leagues under the ocean, or right next to an active volcano. Add that to the fact that only one person can go through at a time...the possibilities of us making it through together would be zero."

Silence.

"What about the deeprealms? Times flows faster there right?" She asked hopefully.

"I thought about that, but I don't think it would work. As far as Lilith told me, the "fastest" deeprealm in one week to a year. Even if we were to go in it right now, we would only make it if we were to induce labor right before the deadline, which would only put you and the baby at risk; and that's not taking into consideration that, if we do induce labor, the child will need some time before it is out of danger and can do something like inter dimensional travel."

Silence.

"Should we talk to the others? Maybe they can help?" Selena asked quietly.

Corrin sighed, "we could, but I don't think it's necessary. I can already see what they would each say. Elise would get hysterical for even suggesting the possibility of taking the tansy tea and demand that we keep the child. Camilla would agree with her, though probably mostly to stop us from leaving. Leon would be more open to either option and probably remind us that it if you were to drink the tansy tea would be safest for you to do it as soon as possible to avoid any harmful effects on your body; that and that we could easily have another child later on."

"And Xander?"

"Xander would tell us to ignore the others and just decide it between ourselves. He'd say that this is a very personal matter that will affect us and that we will have to deal with for the rest out lives, and therefore we shouldn't make the decision in haste. We should consider our options carefully and make the decision that we think is the best—especially for you."

Silence.

"What would your parents say?"

"They'd be livid that I was even thinking about it. Tansy tea is illegal back in my world, and this sort of discussion is extremely taboo. The only way for someone to obtain tansy tea is through illegal underground merchants at inordinate prices, and there have been people who were thrown in jail for going through with the process. If I were to go through with it and they ever found out...I don't think even they would forgive me. They might not even want to see me ever again, claiming that what I did was nothing short of murdering a helpless infant. If it were up to them, they tell me to keep the child."

"Even if it meant never seeing you again?"

Silence.

"I don't know what else to say," Selena muttered, "we've talked it through, we've exhausted every possible option and we've been as logical as we can here and yet we still have nothing."

"I don't think this is something that can be solved logically. I think you just need to look inside and see what feels like the right choice," Corrin said softly.

"But what if I don't feel anything?"

Silence.

"Corrin?"

"Yes love?"

"Is...is this how you felt back then? When you had to choose between Nohr and Hosido?"

"Depends. How exactly does it feel?"

"Like I'm being torn in half. Like I've been given an impossible, no win situation that has no right choice because no matter what I decide on it still somehow feels like the wrong choice. Regardless of my decision I know that people are going to be hurt, especially me. Part of me just wants to die so that I don't have to make this choice."

"Yeah that sound about right."

"How did you know what to choose?"

"I just knew. At that moment I had to make a choice and I did; I didn't have time to think it through, I just went with what my insticts were telling me to go with. Despite everything I had learned, about my family and my home, I just couldn't turn my back to the people who loved me and raised me as their own. Even if we aren't related by blood, they are the only family I ever knew, and I simply couldn't raise my sword against them. So I chose to side with Nohr, even if it meant going against real family."

"Do you...do you ever doubt if you made the right choice? Do you ever wonder what would have happened if you had gone with Hoshido?"

"Everyday..."

Silence.

"Why..."

"Selena?"

"Why does this always happen to me?" She whispered as her eyes began to water, "why is it that every time something good happens something terrible is waiting around the corner? What did I do to deserve any of this? Am I being punished for something? Am I doomed to have every good thing inevitably ruined in my life? I just want to live a normal life with you, being able to recover lost time with my parents and start a family of or own. Is it really so selfish to want that?"

"Of course it isn't," Corrin gently brushed his thumb over her cheek, wiping off the tears trickling down, "you are not selfish at all Selena. You risked your life countless times to save a kingdom that you had no ties to. You spent every waking hour improving yourself do that you could protect my sister as if she was your family. You may be brash and hot headed at times, but there isn't an ounce of malice in you; you even go out of your way to help people that others have given up on like Arthur, Beruka and even Peri. If anyone deserves to have a quiet life after everything they have done, after everything they've been through, it's you."

"Then why is this happening?"

Silence.

"Hey...do you ever regret—"

"Don't even go there," Selena cut him off, "my choice back then...I stand by it; and I always will."

"Sorry, I shouldn't have suggested it. It's just...I can't stand the thought of you suffering because of me."

Selena looked up at him, "like you said, we're in this together. If there is any blame it's on the both of us. You never forced me to do anything, so don't go saying stuff like that. Despite everything that has happened, and despite everything that will happen, there is one thing that I can always count on: that you'll be there for me. And believe me when I say that means everything to me."

Silence.

"…hey, remember that time we got caught in the storm in the middle of the scouting mission and sought out shelter in a nearby barn; and how the owners found us and invited us to stay the night?"

Selena gave him a small smile, "yeah, I remember. They gave us clean clothes and sheets, and some of the best beef stew I ever tasted; and that peach cobbler afterwards, I can still taste it if I close my eyes and concentrate hard enough. We didn't even get to sleep that night, we stayed up for hours talking to them."

Corrin laughed, "yeah they really took a liking to us; though that's no surprising seeing how they said that their own daughter had got married and they hadn't seen her in a while since she moved to the city with her husband to become a stage dancer. Said it was nice to have some company again; I felt guilty for leaving the next morning. It can't be easy being stranded from your child for so long."

"Yeah…"

Silence.

"What about that time when we found that girl wandering the outskirts of the city alone and crying while we were in the middle of marching drills?" Selena asked.

"Oh I remember her. Poor thing got separated from her parents in the middle of a bandit raid and was too scared to tell us their names or even hers. I remember we tried everything from giving her sweets to singing in order to try and calm her down, all to no avail. We ended up taking her to the castle while Gunther and Joker searched for her family in the nearby villages. She just would not stop crying, not even with Elise and Camilla's help."

"Well she did once you turned into your dragon form and gave her a piggyback ride."

"And you combing and braiding her hair helped as well."

"By the time we found her parents she didn't want to leave; to be honest I was a little sad to see her go as well. Once the crying stopped she was actually pretty adorable and cheerful."

Silence.

Corrin leaned down and kissed his wife softly, "I love you."

"I know; and I love you too."

The young prince pulled her into a gently embrace, "like I said before, I'll stand by whatever you decide to do. We're in this together, nothing is going to change that."

Wrapping her arms around her husband she gave him a tight squeeze, "I know..."

* * *

"Nnngh," Corrin yawned and slowly opened his eyes and stretched his limbs.

 _I must have fallen asleep,_ he thought to himself, rubbing his eyes and looking around. It was still the middle of the night, the candles having died off and the room barely illuminated by the moonlight coming through the window; though it was still more than enough to be able to make out his wife sitting at the edge of their bed, her head hunched down slightly and her hands gripping the mattress.

"Selena?"

"I've made my decision."

She said it so softly that Corrin almost didn't hear her.

"I know what I'm going to do..."

"Are you sure? You still have one day to think it through," Corrin scouted closer until he was right behind her.

"No...it's better like this. If not I'll just keep going in circles until my time is up and I lose the chance to make a choice myself. I already have my choice...thinking it over won't change it," Selena said quietly, sounding like she was talking more to herself than to her husband.

"Do you want to talk about it?"

"No."

"Do you want me to leave you alone?"

Selena shook her head.

Corrin put his arms around her stomach and leaned his head on her nape; he could feel her shaking softly while doing her best to stifle a sob. Moving his head around the young prince kissed her cheek tenderly as she grabbed his hands and held on to them tightly.

"We'll get through this..."

Selena only gave him a small nod, though she didn't stop crying.

"Selena...I swear that we will get through this; and I swear that we will do it together. I will be by your side, now and always, just like you have always been by mine."

"...thank you."

The two of them stayed in each other's arm for the rest of the night, neither one saying a word as the sun slowly crept across the sky and into the window signaling a brand new day.

* * *

 **Author's note: boy the comments on this one are going to be lovely, I can already feel them!**

 **So yeah remember that one shot I wrote a few months back with SelenaxCorrin? You probably read it and thought "that was good, but you know what it needed? A sequel with more wanna be angst and depression that leads to more unnecessary character suffering." Wait, you didn't think that? Well...this is awkward. Oh well, what's done is done. Time to let the chips fall where they may and face the music.**

 **Maybe now I can work on one of my other works that don't suck (though you probably shouldn't get your hopes up).**


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